El Centro Chicano y Latino is open Mon - Fri 10 AM - 5 PM starting 09/22/2025. 

Stanford
El Centro Chicano y Latino

Comunidad

El Centro Chicano y Latino is a community hub on the Stanford campus. Our Center is open to all, so please stop by or join one of our listservs to hear more about our events and programs. Below you will find suggestions on where to start and a list of other resources available on campus.

¡Start here!

Get Involved!

Centro-Affiliated Voluntary Student Organizations (VSOs)

El Centro is a hub of student academic, artistic, activist, cultural, service and entrepreneurial activity. We support student organizations by providing resources such as meeting space, storage, trainings, guidance, and much more!

Find your niche
Pre-assign and Attend Pre-Assignee Presentations

Caza Zapata

Casa Zapata is one of four ethnic theme houses at Stanford into which students can apply to 'pre-assign' to live in their sophomore, junior and senior years: Casa Zapata, Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, Okada, Ujamaa.

Casa Zapata is a four-class dorm focusing on the Chicanx and Latinx experience through educational and cultural programs. Decorated with vibrant murals by renowned Chicanx and Latinx artists throughout the common areas, Casa Zapata is a hub for community events such as Floricanto, Posadas, and Chicanx/Latinx Reunion Homecoming, and much more.

Learn more about Casa Zapata
Faculty & Staff

La Raza Staff Association (LRSA)

LRSA was formed in 1981 to improve the status and presence of Chicano/Latino staff at all levels in the Stanford community. LRSA continues to work toward the development of an environment conducive to the welfare of Chicano/Latino staff, students and faculty. LRSA holds monthly meetings throughout the year where speakers are invited for informal discussions on various topics of interest, such as cultural issues and professional development.

For more information about other Staff Groups please click here.

Subscribe to the LRSA email distribution list
After Stanford

Alumni

El Centro values alumni involvement. Your knowledge and expertise are tremendous assets that can benefit the university. Every alum who participates strengthens the Chicanx/Latinx community at Stanford.

Reunion Homecoming Open House and Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame Reception: El Centro Chicano y Latino's Alumni Hall of Fame Award recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves through exceptional advancement and success in education or career, and/or outstanding contributions to our community and society in general.

Stay connected to El Centro by subscribing to El Centro's Alumni Newsletter Mailing List!

We are a part of a large and diverse community

Centers for Equity, Community, and Leadership

El Centro Chicano y Latino is one of seven Centers for Equity, Community, and Leadership, a unit under Student Affairs. Chicane/Latine students often identify and/or partake in more than one community at a time.

Degree & Certificate Granting Programs

Bolivar House

Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS)

CLAS engages with and listens to Latin American and Caribbean voices, studying the natural, cultural and social environment, the richness of the hemisphere’s past experience, the vitality of its contemporary affairs, and the brilliant imagination of its creative thinkers. Every year the Center hosts a number of Tinker Visiting Professors, as well as other highly distinguished Latin American and Iberian scholars.

Currently, CLAS hosts Cafecito Quechua, a student working group that provides students, staff and professors and opportunity to learn and speak Quechua.

visit CLAS's website
Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies Program

The Center for Comparative Studies of Race & Ethnicity

The Program in Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies at Stanford University is a part of CCSRE (Center for Comparative Studies of Race & Ethnicity). The program is an interdisciplinary unit offering both majors and minors the opportunity to explore the vast complexity of Chicanxs and Latinxs living in America.

Visit the Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies Website

Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures (ILAC)

The Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures is recognized as a leader in the development of groundbreaking approaches to the literature and cultures of the Iberian Peninsula, Spanish America, Brazil, Lusophone Africa, and Latinx communities in the United States.

Visit ILAC's Website

Other Important Resources    
for Stanford's Chicane/Latinx/Hispanic Community

Bing Overseas Studies Program

The Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP) offers the opportunity to study abroad while remaining enrolled at Stanford. Among many other options, BOSP has placements in Santiago, Chile and Madrid, Spain and short-term, faculty-led programs to Oaxaca, Southern Patagonia, and Brazil.

Green Library Digital Collections

  • Latin American & Iberian collections    
    Historical strength in 19th and 20th century Mexico and Brazil; includes recent unique holdings on Chilean literature and culture.
  • Mexican American collections    
    The country's largest research collection of primary sources on the Mexican American experience in the United States.

Other Community Resources